New Guy, Familiar Face

Chapter 12: An Interesting Day

Retsuko and Haida walked into work the next morning after Haida drove his new Mustang into the multi-storey car park, still enlightened about Ryo buying it for Haida. Even still, the upcoming day still left Retsuko uneasy on account of Ton's actions yesterday; Haida noticed her mouth trembling and lifted her up until her head matches his and nuzzled her nose. Retsuko smiled warmly and lovingly at Haida's nuzzling and thought as she nuzzled him back "Even though Ton might be here today, at least Haida will be there for me…"

When the elevator door opened, both Retsuko and Haida looked out to see everyone, save for Ton, Ryo and Fenneko, just noticing them; understandably, their eyes whitened in deep awkwardness and blushed heavily as everyone looked at them in blank stares. Then, just as Haida had gently lowered Retsuko to the ground, there was a sudden uproar of cheers and co-workers swarmed around Haida, saying comments like "Haida, you're the man!" or "Way to kick the crap out of Ton!" or even "Who'd ever thought you be stronger than Mr Chinny-chin-chin?" Haida felt pleased that everyone is complimenting him, but his eyes darted to Retsuko, who made a small smile and mouthed at him "I'd better get into my work clothes. I'll meet you soon, honey."

Retsuko then walked into the Women's Change Room and turned the corner to see, much to her surprise, Fenneko feeling depressed as she looked at her phone. Retsuko cleared her throat to grab Fenneko's attention, which the latter said in a dull tone "Hey Retsuko…" Feeling something was wrong, Retsuko went over to her friend and looked at her phone more closely to see a black screen; normally, Fenneko is on a social media site, so Retsuko thought it odd that Fenneko's Phone Screen is dark. Retsuko then asked "I don't mean to pry, but did something happen to your phone?" It took a few silent moments, before Fenneko replied which Retsuko swore she heard her stifle a sob "My account… I can't access it… It's still there, but I can't access it…"

Retsuko's eyes widened in shock, before Fenneko continued "I got a message from the Police Station to stop trying access Ryo's Restricted Posts, but I thought it was just a joke. 2 hours after that, I suddenly got sacked out of PyrePox and tried to get back into my Social Media Account, to see that my account's on hold." Retsuko thought for a moment, wondering on how to react, before she realised she can't sugarcoat it and replied "Fenneko… Ryo has a damn good reason why he doesn't talk about the past. I know that's being harsh, but I just can't lie to how you're going through this." Fenneko made a huge sweatdrop on the back of her head, before she replied "Yeah… Yeah, you're right. It's my fault for being so adamant… I should just apologise to him."

Retsuko nodded, seeing that Fenneko had now firmly understand not to pry into Ryo's past, before she dressed into her work clothes. As Retsuko just closed her locker, Fenneko asked "How's Haida, by the way?" Retsuko made a smile, before replying "Pleased… He drove me in and got applauded and cheered from yesterday's events as we just got out of the elevator." Not surprisingly, Fenneko made a snicker and said "I still can't get over the fact that Haida, a scrawny co-worker/boyfriend had kicked the living crap out of Ton, a fat, sexist, harsh superior." Retsuko, although still upset from yesterday, laughed when she imagined Haida kicking the crap out of Ton.

She then calmed down after a minute and she, along with Fenneko, went to their desk chairs; Retsuko then noticed that Ryo isn't at his desk, despite the fact that his white BMW was in the multi-storey carpark. Retsuko then asked Fenneko as she sat down on her chair "Did you see Ryo earlier, by the way?" Fenneko shook her head and replied "Nah… Although there's some good news." Retsuko raised her brow and Fenneko continued "Turns out, Ton has a bit of a record in the Police Department and what he did yesterday was actually 'Strike 3'." Retsuko's eyes whitened in surprise, not knowing of Ton's trouble with the police; Retsuko then asked "So, if Ton's not here… then who's in charge of Accounting for the time being?" Fenneko replied with a shrug, not knowing who's temporarily taking Ton's place.

Retsuko then flexed her fingers and rested her head on them as she pondered on who's taking Ton's place for now: Would it be Komiya, since he constantly kissed up him just to stay on his good side? Or maybe it'd be Tsubone, since she's her superior here. As she began to think of a possible third candidate, Haida brought Retsuko out of her thoughts and gave her a Latte and a Muffin; she then smiled in joy and repayed Haida with a kiss on the lips, which Haida kissed back a few times. Fenneko then made a subtle grin, pleased that Haida and Retsuko aren't afraid of being affectionate at work, when they heard someone stepping into the room.

When they turned their heads, they were surprised to see the CEO and Washimi behind him; the CEO then addressed to Retsuko "I just thought to let you know, Ton is due for a court hearing today, so you have someone standing in his place for the time being." Retsuko, Fenneko and Haida blinked twice in complete sync, before Retsuko replied "Uh… Okay… Who's filling in for Ton, anyway?" As the CEO was about to respond, a door behind them got them to swivel around to see Ryo just shutting a door behind him. They widened their eyes as the answer sunk in them like the Titanic, when Ryo noticed them and said "Morning guys. I'm taking over the Accounting Department until Ton's cleared to be back."

Among them to be relieved, Retsuko was the most on account of Ryo's intelligence in Mathematics and his limitless amount of kindness. The CEO then said to them "I hope you have a good, well-productive day." The CEO then left the Accounting Department with Washimi, as the rest of the Accounting Co-workers came in and saw Ryo on Ton's desk. Apart from Haida, Retsuko and Fenneko, the Accounting Department were astonished to see that Ryo has temporarily filled in Ton's spot.

When 9am came, Ryo is pondering on what to do with the piles of paperwork on Ton's desk, mentally noting that, despite his fluency with an avicus, Ton keeps passing paperwork over to Retsuko. When Retsuko came over to Ryo, she asked him "Do you want me to go through those, Mr Natsubone?" Ryo scoffed and shook his head before he replied "Hell no, Retsuko… Obviously, I'm not like Ton, so you can take it a little easier at least. Though if you'd like, you can choose how much extra work you'd like to do." Retsuko smiled endearingly at Ryo and made a soft hum, when she thought "Not only do you refuse to force me to do a crapload of paperwork, you actually let me choose how much extra work I can do… Damn it Ryo, if you were literally my superior, I'd follow you without a second thought!"

Retsuko then grabbed a ledger and a few pages from the desk, before she returned to her workstation; just as Retsuko began working, Komiya came to Ryo's side and said with sparkly eyes "I'd be more than willing to offload some papers for you, sir! We can't let you being overexerted, now can we?" Ryo made an amusing chuckle, before he replied to Komiya "Hey man, you don't have to kiss up to me in order to be on my good side. Just because I'm the big man now, it doesn't mean I'm like Ton now."

Komiya then slowly looked at Ryo without changing his expression and replied flatly "So… you're telling me I don't HAVE to kiss up to you?" Ryo shook his head, before Komiya let out a sigh of relief and continued "Thank goodness… I don't really like how Ton handles his paperwork and his co-workers, but I don't have a lot of confidence to tell him off. I mean, when I worked here on my first day, I thought he was truly awe-spiring in his work; but when I realised he was a brute, I kissed up to him out of fear of being handed down paperwork that's not even mine."

Ryo in astounded in Komiya's confession, before Ryo replied "Well, if there's any paperwork that's a bit hard, you can always give them to me and I'll see what I can do from there." Komiya is astounded from Ryo's comment, before he said "That… That's really generous of you… I mean, I KNOW you're a star model in Mathematics and sympathetic and all, but I'd NEVER expected you'd willingly help the workers through tough paperwork." Ryo felt really flattered from Komiya's sudden reaction, before the latter went back to his desk and sorted out his paperwork.

When it was 10 minutes to lunch break, Ryo tidied up his temporary desk and left the office building, much to everyone's confusion. As everyone else went to the break room about 10 minutes later, a scent just came in through the room: It was the unmistakable smell of fried potato, with other succulent smells that made everyone's mouths water. On a hunch, Retsuko turned her head to see, much to her mixture of surprise and pleasure, Ryo holding an unusually large wrapped paper in his arms, with the various succulent smells emanating from within, as well as plastic bags of sauces and drinks. Everyone else turned their heads to see what Retsuko is seeing and, on instinct, rearranged the tables and chairs, much to Ryo's amusement.

When he laid and unwrapped the paper on the arranged tables, everyone else saw that he'd been getting them an amazing variety of consumables: Chips, Fried Fish, Dim Sims, Squid Rings, Hash Browns, Potato Scollops and Chicken Munchies. As if they weren't enlightened enough, Ryo got out 2 litre bottles of water, fruit juice and soft drinks, as well as Tomato, Barbecue and Sweet Chili sauce. Ryo then looked at the others and saw their shocked, yet amazed expressions looking at him; it was Komiya who finally said "You… are… a… SAINT!" Ryo smiled with his eyes closed, before he replied "So, what are you guys waiting for? Dig in!" Like the sound of a gunshot, everyone helped themselves to what they fancied, with Ryo grabbing a handful of chips and a few Dim Sims and filling a plastic cup with Lemonade, before he sat with Haida, Retsuko and Fenneko.

Despite being miserable earlier on, Ryo's fill in on Ton seemed to lift her spirits a little; she's currently enjoying some Dim Sims given from Tsunoda. After finishing her 4th Dim Sim, Fenneko said to Ryo "Hey Ryo… I'm sorry for adamantly searching into your past. Because of that, my Social Media Account's been temporarily blocked off and I can't access it." Ryo felt bad for Fenneko, unaware that she had pried so much into looking in his past that her account's been inaccessible temporarily. He closed his eyes for a few moments, before he replied "Since you're that desperate to know, how about you come with me on the weekend? *turns to Retsuko and Haida* You guys can come too, if you wish…" Retsuko, Haida and Fenneko looked at each other and huddled together for a few moments, before Retsuko replied to Ryo "Alright, we can come with you… Uh, WHERE is your home, by the way?" Ryo rubbed the back of his head, before admitting "Um, It's still being built, but it's close to being finished… I'll pick you guys up when your shifts ends; in advance, it's REALLY pricey."

When everyone's shifts loomed to the end of the day, Ryo had just finished the last of the paperwork and tidied up the desk before saying aloud "Alright everyone! I hoped you all had an uplifting day and I wish you all a good night's sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Everyone, even Tsubone, nodded in enlightenment at Ryo as he left the Accounting Department. In the Women's Change Room, as Retsuko changed back into her casual clothing, Fenneko noted "It was definitely uplifting today; I swear, if Ton was here today, I'd have called off sick." Retsuko smiled with her eyes closed and replied "You're not alone, Fenneko. Still, it was rather nice of Ryo to buy the whole department lunch; despite my Yoga lessons, I admit I rather enjoyed it, especially the Chicken Munchies."

Fenneko nodded, when her phone vibrated; she checked it to see a message that reads 'Your Account is now unblocked; Please don't access restricted Posts unless authorised from the user.' Fenneko's eyes widened in surprise, before she looked at Retsuko as they walked to the elevator and said "My account's unblocked… I can go through Social Media again!" Fenneko smiled for a few moments, before she looked at her phone and added "But… I don't want to go too far again… I'll suck it up and not pry into Ryo's past." Retsuko felt enlightened that Fenneko has learned her lesson firmly, before they exited the building.